Baconian-Rosicrucian Ciphers

An introduction to the cryptography used by Francis Bacon and the Rosicrucian-Freemasonic fraternity. Author: Peter Dawkins

Cipher was extremely important to Francis Bacon. Not only did he regard mathematics (i.e. number and geometry) as a vitally important and metaphysical science, and one of the essential forms of things,1 but he also considered that Allusive or Parabolical Poesie, using fables, parables and symbolism, was “a sacred and venerable thing, especially seeing Religion itself hath allowed it a work of that nature, and by it traffics divine commodities with men,” and in addition was essential to veil the secrets and mysteries of religion, policy and philosophy from eyes unfit or unready to see them.2 Like the Platonists and Kabbalists before him, Bacon saw nature, and the underlying ‘forms’ of nature (i.e. their geometry, proportion, numerology and signature), as symbols of spiritual truths.

Francis Bacon made use of several different kinds and types of cipher, some of them to sign various published works issued outwardly under different names or pseudonyms, some of them to give signposts, messages or teachings, some of them to provide geometric constructions (such as a Masonic square and compasses signature or a compass rose providing map directions), and some of them being a method by means of which to analyse and raise consciousness, and ultimately to know the metaphysical laws and intelligencies of the universe.

Francis himself was a secretive person both by choice and by necessity. He learnt the use of ciphers early in his youth, first of all from his mother, Lady Ann Bacon, who used cipher in her literary works as well as letters, and later when he was employed by Lord Burghley and Sir Francis Walsingham on intelligence matters both at home and abroad. Francis’ brother Anthony was likewise employed, travelling to France and elsewhere for this and other purposes, where he remained for over twelve years. When Anthony finally returned to England in 1592, Francis, by request of the Queen, “knit” his brother’s services to Essex. Anthony thereafter acted as a virtual secretary of state to the Earl, running his own network of spies and, together with his brother Francis, feeding both the Earl and the Queen with intelligence. Together the brothers set up their own intelligence headquarters in London, assisted by top agents and cryptologists such as Thomas Phelippes, Anthony Standen, Henry Wotton and Nicholas Faunt, who between them had travelled widely and were highly trained and experienced.

Francis Bacon not only used cipher but also invented several ciphers of his own, one of which he describes in Book VI of the 1623 Latin edition of his Advancement of Learning (the De Augmentis Scientiarum, first published in English translation in 1640). This particular cipher he calls the Biliteral Cipher, which he says he invented in his youth whilst in Paris (1576-9). From the principles of this cipher, Morse Code was later developed and ultimately the binary system that computers use nowadays.

The cipher used by Lady Ann Bacon and her sons, Anthony and Francis, was a simple one involving the substitution of certain English characters with Greek ones. They used this in literary works as well as in letters to each other. Petter Amundsen, for instance, has found

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The capital letter ciphers are both easy to see yet easy to miss or dismiss as either unimportant or printer’s errors. For instance, the portrait poem that fronts the Shakespeare Folio emphasises the importance of the word “TWO” (the capitalised first letters of the first three non-indented lines) by means of the first word “To” of the address heading the poem, and by the use of the word “Figure” instead of “Picture” (as used in the last line) followed by “that thou here seest put”.

A ‘figure’ is pre-eminently a number (cipher)—or a form, shape or symbol—and here a number is indeed described. It is the number 2. This is used as a signpost, such as to page 2 of the plays, which is page 2 of The Tempest, wherein can be found all manner of cryptic information. But the 2 is also a signpost to other secrets, or mysteries, as well, including the association of 2 (two) with Shakespeare as a “figure” as portrayed on page 2 of the prefatory material. Not only this, but the capitalised initial letters of The Tempest render ‘T.T.’ in the capital letter code, which is a Masonic signature (see below).

Whilst The Tempest is the first play in the Folio, the portrait poem is the first text in the Folio, printed on the first page of the prefatory section. This portrait poem also presents the T.T. signature, with a capital T starting the first line of the address (“To the Reader”) and a second capital T starting the first line of the poem (“This Figure…). The ten lines of the poem and twelve lines of the whole text (address, poem and signature) also bring in the idea of T.T. (i.e. Ten and Twelve), as well as the numbers 10 and 12. If we add these two numbers, 10 + 12, we obtain 22, or Twenty-Two, which is T.T. again.

Moreover, the signature “B.I.” at the end, normally assumed to be the capital initials of Ben Jonson, are also the capital initials of Boaz and Jachin, the names of the twin Great Pillars of Freemasonry—the two pillars of brass that stood at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple. These pillars are ‘Two’ in number and ‘Twins’ to each other, like the Gemini. ‘T.T.’ is sometimes used to refer to them, as well as ‘B.I.’.

The letter T, like the letter L, is associated with the Master of a Freemasonic Lodge and his emblem, the Square (or setsquare). To confirm and emphasise this, the first printed line of The Tempest consists of the word “Master”—a word set apart on its own line and above the associated speaking part, “Bote-swaine,” of the actor playing the part of the Master. The

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First page (upper part) of The Tempest, Shakespeare First Folio (1623)

Amongst other things, these clues give the key that the Simple Elizabethan Cipher (A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc.) is being used and that the Shakespeare Folio is a Freemasonic-Rosicrucian production. They also indicate the essential ‘foundation’ or law underlying the ‘temple’ of Shakespeare plays—and indeed of the whole Shakespeare canon. This is what can be referred to as the Gemini principle.

The Gemini in Greek myth are the twin children of Leda and the Swan, one twin being immortal (Pollux) and the other being mortal (Castor). Just as for Brahma and Sarasvati in Hindu myth, whose ‘vehicle’ or creative form is the Hamsa Swan, the Swan is the symbol of Zeus and Leda in the role of Creator, sounding the Word of Creation poetically and artistically as the Divine Poet. Their children, the Gemini, are likewise ‘Swans’: hence the attribute of ‘Swan’ to any great poet who acts as a creator, such as Orpheus, the instaurator of the Dionysian-Orphic Mysteries. The Gemini are also known in myth as ‘Spear-shakers’. Thus it is not by chance that Ben Jonson calls Shakespeare the “Sweet Swan of Avon” in his poem ‘To the Author Shakespeare’ in the preface to the Shakespeare First Folio. In other words, a hint is given that there are two ‘Swans’, two ‘Shakespeares’. This can be interpreted in several ways, but one interpretation, which is supported by the inscription of the Shakespeare Monument in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, is that there is one who is the ‘immortal’ poet-author and the other who is the ‘mortal’ actor-producer, corresponding in the symbolism of architecture to the architect and the builder/craftsman. Rosicrucianism (c.f. Architectonics) and Freemasonry (the Craft) have a similar relationship.

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Besides signposting page 2 of the plays in the Shakespeare Folio, the figure 2 also signposts page 2 of the prefatory material. This second page (which is the second printed page of the Folio) contains the title of the Folio and the portrait of Shakespeare that is referred to as a “figure” (i.e. 2) on line 2 of the preceding Portrait Poem. This portrait of Shakespeare figuratively portrays the secret that there are indeed two Shakespeares, the author and the actor, with the latter masking the former. A strong line beneath the chin of the face, together with the slight disembodied and disproportionate portrayal of the face, suggests that the face is a mask that hides the true author beneath. Supporting this is the portrayal of Shakespeare’s doublet as having two left shoulders. Left-handedness is an indication of cryptic concealment and cipher. Moreover, the lines of these two shoulders suggest the capital letters, I.C., which phonetically render “I see”. Can we indeed see?

Titlepage of the Shakespeare First Folio (1623)

Numerical ciphers are those wherein each letter of the alphabet has an equivalent numerical value. These are derived from an ancient kabbalistic cipher method, referred to as gematria, which is traditionally used by kabbalists to calculate the numerology of sacred names in the Torah, leading to the possibility of associating or substituting each name with

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In Bacon’s day, it was John Dee who was famously known as using this method, although he and what he was doing was grossly misunderstood and he suffered as a result. Bacon wisely kept it more secret; but to access and inquire into these metaphysical or spiritual forms was almost certainly his ultimate purpose in using such ciphers. That is to say, he used gematria as a mathematical aid to inquiring into the higher forms, laws or divine ideas behind Creation—spiritual forms or intelligencies that traditionally have been called ‘angels’ by the Bible and Church.

Bacon not only regarded mathematics highly as a metaphysical science, suitable for this purpose, but, when analysed carefully, it can be discovered that his Great Instauration is fundamentally based on a system of sacred numerology (gematria) contained in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, with its Six Days’ Work of Creation leading to the Seventh Day of Rest (which also means Peace or Illumination): hence Bacon refers to Salomon’s House in his New Atlantis as the College of the Six Days’ Work (which work leads to the Seventh Day of Peace). Hidden within the Seven Day sequence are the Ten Sephiroth (‘Ciphers’) of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and within that the Twenty-Two Paths of Illumination, rendering a total of thirty-two ciphers and a mystical thirty-third that embraces the whole.

Gematria has many possible variations. One which is recorded in Bacon’s time is the Latin Cabala, adopted in Italy in 1621 by a circle of literary ecclesiastics, who established it on the occasion of the left arm of the blessed Conrad, a famous hermit, being brought with ceremony from Netina to Piacenza. (The record of this is in a rare pamphlet entitled Anathemata B. Conrado, issued in Placentia in 1621.) There are two versions of this Latin Cabala described, one ‘Simple’ and the other ‘Ordinary’, the ‘Simple’ having twenty-two letters for its alphabet and the ‘Ordinary’ having twenty-three (the letter ‘K’ being added).

Bacon’s cabalistic ciphers are very similar to the Latin Cabala, but based on the twenty-four letters of the Elizabethan alphabet rather than the twenty-two or twenty-three of the Latin Cabala. Three main variations are used—the Simple Cipher, the Reverse Cipher and the Kay (i.e. the ‘K’ or Key) Cipher. There are two variations of the Kay Cipher and it is the second one which is the more important and used, for instance, in the Shakespeare Folio of plays.

The basic Simple Cipher (i.e. A = 1, B = 2, C= 3, …Z = 24) was first illustrated by Johannes Trithemius in his famous three-volume work on cryptography and steganography, Steganographia (written c.1499 and published 1606 in Frankfurt), wherein he computed the numerical values of the names of angels. The same cipher method was illustrated on page 141 in Gustavus Selenus’ great cipher manual, Cryptomenitices et Cryptographiae, published in Germany in 1624—a book in which Bacon was involved.

This cabalistic Simple Cipher was developed by Francis Bacon into what he called a four-fold structure, in which the 24-letter alphabet is repeated four times so that the corresponding numbers continue to 96 (i.e. 4 x 24) and each of the numbers/letters in the four sets relates

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Bacon’s comments on his Abecedarium Naturae make it sound as if the list is just some ordinary list, with numbered titles, and that one can easily and simply change the titles if and as required. However, the interesting thing about the list is that it is anything but normal. All that is provided of the list are twelve items divided into two groups, one named (in Latin) “Greater Masses” and the other named (in Latin) “Conditions of Entities”. The inquisitions are numbered, and each one is associated with a Greek letter, spelt phonetically, in place of the corresponding letter of the 24-letter Elizabethan alphabet, and with the name in Latin of either a Greater Mass or a Condition of Entity. Inquisitions 67-72 are grouped under the heading “Greater Masses” and referred to as the “three-fold” alphabet. Inquisitions 73-78 are grouped under the heading “Conditions of Entities” and referred to as the “four-fold” alphabet.

The descriptions that Bacon provides, even though covering only 12 inquisitions, show that the complete list is actually made up of 96 inquisitions organised into four levels (single, two-fold, three-fold and four-fold), with each level containing 24 inquisitions in which each inquisition corresponds to a letter of the 24-letter English Alphabet as represented by a letter of the 24-letter Greek Alphabet.5

Bacon slightly changed the spelling of some of the Latin words for the Greek letters and Greater Masses in order to make his cipher numerology work as he wished. The result is that the twelve inquisitions of the Abecedarium Naturae produce the names of Francis Bacon and Anthony Bacon in the various ways as used by them when signing letters, and associates each name with a triple or quadruple Greek/English letter as well as a number.

For instance, whereas 100 is the Simple Cipher count of ‘Francis Bacon’, the number 67, the Simple Cipher count of ‘Francis’, corresponds to the Triple-Tau (T.T.T.) of the Abecedarium. Quadruple-Tau (T.T.T.T.), corresponding to the number 91 of the Abecedarium, is the Simple Cipher count of ‘Anthony’. This gives a neat cipher description of the esoteric philosophical working relationship of Francis Bacon to his brother Anthony, for whilst the Triple Tau refers to the Holy Trinity and Temple of Solomon (Templum Hierosolyma), the Quadruple Tau is symbolic of the Foundation Stone upon which the temple is built: hence Francis and Anthony are equivalent to the Gemini as co-Principals of the fraternity—e.g. Solomon (of Jerusalem) and Hiram (of Tyre) in Biblical history and Freemasonic legend, wherein Solomon builds the temple with his wisdom and Hiram supplies the materials and craftsmen. A Freemasonic maxim summarises the essential teaching of this as “Wisdom to design,

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Strength to support, Beauty to adorn”. Beauty is the master craftsman, Hiram Abiff, who becomes the Third Principal and who represents all others of the craft who become masters.

As Ewen MacDuff,6 Frank Woodward,7 myself and others have discovered, these signatures together with other messages were placed in certain key pages of the 1623 Shakespeare Folio and some other works, both literary and sculptural. For instance, the Double-Tau (T.T.), corresponding to the number 43 of the Abecedarium, is used to sign not only the Shakespeare Folio, Shake-speares Sonnets and Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Monument, but also Baconiana or Certain Genuine Remains of Sir Francis Bacon and the 18th century Westminster Abbey Shakespeare Memorial, thereby demonstrating the continuing knowledge and work of a Baconian-Rosicrucian-Freemasonic secret society.

Dedication: Shake-speares Sonnets (1609) Introduction: Baconiana (1678/9)

In alliance with the Capital Letter Code, T.T. also stands for 33 (Thirty-Three), the Simple Cipher of ‘Bacon’. The Abecedarium letter equivalent for 33 is Double-I (I.I.), which leads us into the Gemini and Janus mysteries. For instance, besides the allusion to the ego (mortal and immortal) and the eye (the poetic eye of imagination and All-Seeing Eye of God), it is notable that the 18th century Westminster Abbey Shakespeare Memorial is twinned by a similar, but appropriately different, Shakespeare Memorial at Wilton House, with both memorials depicting Shakespeare leaning on a Janus altar.

These two memorials were designed by the same architect and artist, William Kent, carved by the same sculptor, Peter Scheemakers, and overseen by the same group of people that included Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, Alexander Pope and Dr Richard Mead, all authorities on Shakespeare and Bacon. The Westminster Shakespeare Memorial was erected in 1741, for the general public. The Wilton ‘twin’ was completed in 1743 for Henry

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Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, who was a good friend of Lord Burlington and William Kent. (Henry’s ancestors were the two brothers, William the 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Philip the 4th Earl of Pembroke, to whom the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio had been dedicated). These two memorials were clearly intended as twins to each other, to help perpetuate the Shakespeare mystery and aid its discovery by those with eyes to see.

Shakespeare Memorial, Westminster Abbey Shakespeare Memorial, Wilton House

‘T.T.’, Shakespeare Memorial Shakespeare Monument Inscription Westminster Abbey Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

The T.T. signature on the Shakespeare Monument in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon- Avon, is provided in an extra-special way that identifies the role of Freemasonry and in particular the higher degrees associated with the original historical Rosicrucians (i.e. those

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The inscription on the Shakespeare Monument in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon

In addition, the letters T.H. as used in Freemasonry stand for Templum Hierosolyma, the ‘Temple of the Great Solomon’ or ‘Temple of Jerusalem’, and are specifically used in the Holy Royal Arch Degree. T.H. is also used to refer to the Triple Tau, T.T.T., wherein the H is considered to be composed of two T’s. Triple Tau can also be written as T.T., using the Capital Letter Code. T.T. can also represent the number Thirty-Three, or 33, a number used to designate the highest degree one can reach—the 33rd Degree of Freemasonry. Notably, there are thirty-three T’s in the main body of the inscription and three T’s in the final two- line indented ‘end-note’ carved in much smaller letters, thereby giving us the possibility of counting either 33 or 36—i.e. Thirty-Three (= TT) or Thirty-Three plus Three (= TTT).

The Abecedarium Naturae is clearly more than just a list of inquisitions for Bacon’s Natural History. It is also not the same list as occurs in Sylva Sylvarum, as they each use a different numbering system: Sylva Sylvarum uses 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 whilst Abecedarium Naturae uses 24 x 4 = 96. However, both lists are based on sacred numerology and have cipher implications.

Bacon’s Sylva Sylvarum: A Natural History was published together with his utopia, New Atlantis, (with New Atlantis appended to Sylva Sylvarum) by William Rawley in 1627, a year after Bacon’s death. Rawley states in the preface to Sylva Sylvarum that the book was

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The extended title of the book states that Sylva Sylvarum is “A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries”. It contains 1000 “experiments” grouped in 10 groups of 100. For various reasons, 10, 100 and 1000 are highly important numbers. For instance:-

• 10 is the total number of the Sephiroth (‘Divine Emanations’)9 that form the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which represents the Word or Wisdom of God and essential totality of Divinity. It is also the number of the Ten Commandments. • 100 is 10 squared, a measure used in sacred geometry to represent the Universe. The Mosaic Floor of Freemasonry is based on this number, having an 8 x 8 chequerboard (or chessboard) surrounded by a one-unit wide tessellated border. The number 100 is also the cipher (in Simple Cipher) of the name ‘Francis Bacon’. • 1000 is 10 cubed, the three-dimensional expression of the 100 square, which cube is known as the Foundation Stone of the Universe. The angelic hierarchy is said to be organised in this order of numbers (i.e. 10 x 10 x 10). Kay Ciphers are first mentioned by Francis Bacon in his 1605 version of the Advancement of Learning, but not described. In his 1623 Latin edition (the De Augmentis Scientiarum) he refers to them as the “Ciphrae Clavis” (Key Ciphers). The Baconian, Mr. W. E. Clifton, discovered the working of this cipher with the help of two particular volumes from his collection of 17th century books—Thomas Powell’s The Repertorie of Records (1631) and a special edition of Rawley’s Resuscitatio (1671) of Bacon’s works—which alerted him to the fact that the cipher uses the twenty-six characters of the old alphabet primers, in which the Ampersand (‘&’) followed by ‘et’ was added to the twenty-four letter alphabet, and that K (which starts the counting) equals 10. Since the numbers 25 and 26 (which correspond to the ‘&’ and ‘et’) are treated as nulls, then A equals 27, B equals 28, etc...

The Reverse Cipher is simply the Simple Cipher in reverse (i.e. A = 24, B = 23, … Z = 1), and its use seems to be as an occasional double-check to the veracity of cipher signatures in the other two main cabalistic ciphers.

Simple Cipher

A B C D E F G H I K L M

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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Reverse Cipher

A B C D E F G H I K L M

24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Kay Cipher (2)

A B C D E F G H I K L M

27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 10 11 12

N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z & et

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 27

The principal cabalistic signatures used on monuments and in the various published works of Francis Bacon or ‘Shakespeare’, or the Rosicrucian fraternity in relationship to Bacon- Shakespeare, are as follows:-

Baconian Cipher Signatures

Signature Simple Kay Reverse

Francis 67 171 108

Bacon 33 111 92

Francis Bacon 100 282 200

Fra. Rosi. Crosse 157 287 168

‘Fra. Rosi. Crosse’ stands for ‘Fratres Rosi Crosse’ (‘Brothers of the Rosy Cross’) or ‘Frater Rosi Cross’ (‘Brother of the Rosy Cross’). Other cabalistic signatures based on Francis Bacon’s titles are also used.10

The cipher signature method is unusual in that it often uses a count of letters per word per column (or page), or else of the number of words per column (or page), or both, to give the cipher signature. As Bacon stated in his Advancement of Learning (1605): “For Cyphars; they are commonly in Letters or Alphabets, but may be in Wordes”.

For instance, in Francis Bacon’s Advancement of Learning (1640) there are 287 letters on the Frontispiece page, 287 letters on the Dedication page, and 287 letters on page 215, which is

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There is a matching occurrence of cipher signatures in the Shakespeare Folio—for instance:-

• Ben Jonson’s Portrait Poem on the first page of the 1623 Shakespeare Folio has 287 letters, the count of ‘Fra. Rosi. Crosse’ in Kay Cipher. • The title-page of the Folio, containing Shakespeare’s portrait, has 157 letters in its words, the count of ‘Fra. Rosi. Crosse’ in Simple Cipher. • The first page of the Dedication in the Shakespeare Folio has 157 words in italic font, the count of ‘Fra. Rosi. Crosse’ in Simple Cipher. • The Catalogue of plays has exactly 100 Roman letters on the full page, and 100 complete italic words in its second column, the count of ‘Francis Bacon’ in Simple Cipher. The page also has 111 capitals in italic font, the count of ‘Francis Bacon’ in Kay Cipher. • The first page of the Comedies, (i.e. the first page of The Tempest) in the Shakespeare Folio has 287 words in regular font in its second column, whilst its first column has 100 italic font letters (actors’ character names discounted) and 257 words in regular font. 100 = ‘Francis Bacon’ (Simple Cipher), whilst 257 – 100 = 157 = ‘Fra Rosi Crosse’ (Simple Cipher). That is to say, 257 = 100 + 157 = ‘Francis Bacon, Fra Rosi Crosse’. The same cipher system and signatures can be found in the inscription on the Shakespeare Monument at Stratford-upon-Avon. For instance, the eight main lines of its text are made up of 50 complete words containing 287 letters in total. 287 is the ‘Fra. Rosi. Crosse’ signature in Kay Cipher.

50 also has a highly significant meaning in the cabalistic cipher system, and at the same time is the number of the Argonauts, the symbolism of which Bacon uses to describe his seekers after truth—the Rosicrucian fraternity—who metaphorically sail in the ship Argo. The Argo is prominently shown on two key title-pages of Bacon’s works, either entering between the Great Pillars or sailing past the Great Pillars, both of which have a Freemasonic context.11

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Complementing this, the garbled quotation on the scroll of the Shakespeare Memorial in Westminster Abbey is made up of 33 complete words (i.e. ‘Bacon’ in Simple Cipher) containing 157 letters (i.e. ‘Fra Rosi Crosse’ in Simple Cipher), whereas the original six lines from The Tempest (Act 4, scene 1) in the Shakespeare Folio from which the Memorial quotation is derived are composed of 40 words containing 167 letters. The Westminster Abbey memorial was erected in 1741, but the project was launched in 1726— the centenary of Bacon’s death.

Shakespeare Memorial scroll, Westminster Abbey

Francis Bacon’s first name, Francis, means ‘Free’. He used this both as a teaching and as a cipher signature, for ‘Free’ = 33 = ‘Bacon’ (Simple Cipher), or ‘Free’ = 67 = ‘Francis’ (Reverse Cipher), or ‘Free’ = 111 = ‘Bacon’ (Kay Cipher). ‘Free’ also has the connotation of ‘Master’ and was used in the Classical Mysteries to hail the resurrected initiate as “Liber Bacchus!” (‘Bacchus, the Free!’). Its equivalent is also used in the Vedic teachings as the title of the Master—Jivanmukta, ‘the Free’. The English word ‘free’ is derived from the Sanskrit root pri, meaning ‘to love’; and so, fundamentally, ‘Free’ = ‘Love’. It is love that sets us free from attachment to lesser desires, thoughts and actions. True freedom is a state of love.

In both Simple and Reverse Cipher, ‘Love’ = 50, the number of the Argonauts, used by Bacon as a metaphor for all earnest seekers after truth (the golden fleece), who are idealistically or metaphorically the true Freemasons, for the name ‘Freemason’ literally means ‘Builder of Love’ or ‘Loving Builder’.

In the 1623 Shakespeare Folio, the very first play of the Folio, The Tempest, is signed with this masterful signature, for the text begins with “Master” and ends with “Free”. Acted on stage, the word “Master” is unspoken, as it is a script prompt for the actor playing the part of Master of the ship, for him to speak the words that follow:-

Master. Bote-swaine. Botes. Heere Master: What cheere?

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By contrast, the word “free” is spoken by Prospero in the Epilogue, as the last word of the play:-

As you from crimes would pardon'd be, Let your Indulgence set me free.

This Epilogue, on the last page of The Tempest, is on the nineteenth page of the play, which page is correctly numbered 19. The number 19 is the simple cipher of the letter T, the nineteenth letter of the 24-letter Elizabethan Alphabet.

Essentially The Tempest is all about attaining true mastery as a master of love, with the help of Ariel, the spirit of love, which Prospero sets free from within himself. The unspoken “Master” and spoken “free” constitute another form of cipher used to indicate the origin of life and self that is unmanifest and unknown but which eventually culminates in the complete manifestation and revelation of that origin: in other words, the Alpha (“Master”) and Omega (“free”), which are Love. This is further confirmed by the contrived fact that The Tempest is printed as the first play in the Shakespeare Folio yet is traditionally known as the last Shakespeare play.

Bacon’s full signature, ‘Francis Bacon’, counts to 100, divided neatly into thirds by ‘Bacon’ (33) and ‘Francis’ (67)—i.e. 33:67:100=1:2:3—thereby providing a fundamental (1:1), an octave (1:2) and a fifth (2:3) in music. 100 is the classical number of universality and was used as the overall measure of the Globe Theatre, which was 100 feet in diameter. 33 is the number of the personal master (e.g. Jesus, the person or “son of man”, was said to be 33 years old at his crucifixion and resurrection). 100 is the number of the universal Master, the fully ascended soul of love, enthroned in heaven.

33 is represented by the initials ‘T.T.’ (i.e. Thirty-Three). Thus ‘T.T.’ represents the Thirty- Third Degree of Initiation and is used as a sign or signature of the Master. As already mentioned, ‘T.T.’ also refers to the Twin Pillars (or Great Pillars) that stand before the porch of Solomon’s Temple, whose actual Hebrew names, Boaz and Jachin, are represented by the initials ‘B.I.’—the same initials that sign the Shakespeare Folio’s portrait poem and constitute the initials of Ben Jonson, the guardian or “Keeper of the Trophonian Den”.12

Portrait Verse, Shakespeare First Folio

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Using the Hebrew alphabet rather than the Greek, which Bacon and the Rosicrucians did, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph, corresponding to the Greek Alpha. The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, corresponding to the Greek Omega, is Tau. Thus the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek Alpha-Omega is Aleph-Tau. The corresponding ‘English’ letters are ‘A-T’. Because the “last” (Omega, Tau) is the final and complete revelation of the “first” (Alpha, Aleph), the cipher ‘T’ can substitute for the cipher ‘A’, and vice versa. That is to say, ‘TT’ is equivalent to ‘AA’.

The ‘Double A’ or ‘AA’ is, like the ‘TT’, a key signature of the Rosicrucian fraternity, used as a hieroglyph of the mystery schools since classical times, possibly earlier. It represents the polarity of all life—the Creator and Created, as well as the Alpha and Omega. The ‘AA’ can also signify the divine Spear-shakers, Apollo and Athena, as also the ‘solar’ brother and ‘lunar’ sister, Apollo and Artemis. The ‘AA’ was used as a central feature in significant headpieces in various books of the Rosicrucian fraternity, mostly during Bacon’s life-time. It can be found, for instance, heading certain pages in the Shakespeare Folio and Bacon’s philosophical works.

AA-Gemini Headpiece, Shakespeare Folio (1623)

In this headpiece, the two A’s support the Gemini, each of whom is holding a ribbon that ties together a sheaf of wheat, a pointer to the Dionysian, Freemasonic and Christian Mysteries. The head of Pan lies directly beneath the sheaf, indicating Pan’s role as the Foundation Stone of the Universe. The illustration’s right-hand A is in the light, the left-hand A is in the shadow, echoing the Sun and Moon symbolism of the Great Pillars of Solomon’s Temple and the Tree of Life. Pollux, the immortal, is therefore on the right-hand light A; Castor, the mortal, is on the left-hand dark A.13

In symbolism, the AA is associated with the boar, as also with Bacon. In classical tradition the boar, an attribute of Apollo, the divine swineherd, is said to imprint the ground with the sign of ‘AA’. The boar is Bacon’s heraldic animal, referred to cryptically in Mistress Quickly’s line in The Merry Wives of Windsor (4:1), “Hang-hog is latten for Bacon, I warrant you”. This “parable” is from a story told about Sir Nicholas Bacon, which Francis records in his Apophthegm 10, published in Resuscitatio (1671): “Hog is not Bacon until it be well hanged.”

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Gemini-Bride Headpiece, Shakespeares Sonnets (1609)

The Gemini headpiece used in Shake-speares Sonnets, on the other hand, contains an emblem of Bride, or Truth Revealed. She is depicted in the top centre as a woman’s head, with her face unveiled and her head crowned with seven feathered plumes, symbolic of illumination. Beneath her are three salmon fished out of the waters, symbolic of initiatic death and resurrection leading to truth revealed. On each side of the salmon is a coney (rabbit), presented so that the two coneys are back to back, thereby giving the rebus signature of ‘back-coney’ or ‘back-conies’, a cryptic reference to Francis Bacon and/or the Bacon brothers, Francis and Anthony. ‘Baconi’ is one of the ways in which Francis Bacon’s name was used in Latin editions of his acknowledged works: for instance, the very first work of his published in Latin, De Sapientia Veterum (1609), has ‘Francisci Baconi’ on its title-page (meaning ‘by Francis Bacon’), as also his Latin Opera (1638) and Opuscula Varia Posthuma (1658). Its cabalistic cipher is used frequently, ‘Fra Baconi’ counting to 66 in Simple Cipher and 222 in Kay Cipher, exactly double the values of ‘Bacon’ in Simple and Kay Ciphers respectively.

The Shakespeare Folio has 36 plays, but this can be reduced to 33 when Parts 1 and 2 of Henry IV and Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Henry VI are presented as whole plays without being partitioned, i.e. as Henry IV and Henry VI, thus making seven history plays (instead of 10), plus 14 Comedies and 12 Tragedies. As we have seen above, 33 is Thirty-Three or ‘T.T.’, the cryptic Thirty-Third Degree signature of Bacon and his group of Rosicrucian-Freemasons. Also, the two ways of numbering the plays, 33 or 36—i.e. Thirty-Three (= TT) or Thirty-Three plus Three (= TTT)—are echoed in the number of T’s in the inscription on the Shakespeare Monument in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon (see page 9 above).

The Tempest, which is traditionally known as Shakespeare’s last play but is placed first in the Folio, sums up the essence of the whole Shakespeare Folio of plays. Not only do the capital letters of its title depict ‘T.T.’, but as the “last” play it is also the Thirty-Third. This plays with Bacon’s idea that the “Truth of knowing” (i.e. Truth revealed), represented by the Hebrew letter Tau (equivalent to the Greek Omega), is the perfect image or manifestation of the “Truth of being”, represented by the Hebrew letter Aleph (equivalent to the Greek Alpha). The two Truths not only provide the cipher ‘T.T.’ (Truth-Truth), but also the ‘A.A.’; for, when the T manifests the A, it means that the A has become the T. They are One. The Mystical Marriage is complete.

In a way, one could say that Bacon’s last work was New Atlantis. This was an unfinished work, but published immediately after Bacon’s death together with Sylva Sylvarum, according to his instructions. The titlepage emblem of New Atlantis depicts “Hidden Truth brought forth by Time”.

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“Hidden Truth brought forth by Time” emblem, New Atlantis (1627)

In this emblem, Pan is portrayed as Kronos, Lord of Time, who is drawing forth the hidden Truth (Echo) from the darkness of the labyrinthine cave. In this role he is the Great Initiator, Hierophant of the Mysteries. He is also the Alpha, the “Truth of being”, whose music brings all Nature into being. Truth Revealed (the hidden Truth brought forth into the light of day), is the Omega, the “Truth of knowing”. These are the Alpha-Omega, or A-T. But as T = A, and A = T, it is another AA or TT signature, but in this case in a symbolic artistic form.

Underlying the picture and determining its layout is the geometric pattern of a circle and square, with the circle containing a zodiac divided into 12 equal signs. The circle and square suggest the squaring of the circle. The zodiac, which means ‘wheel of life’, is representative of both the cycle of time and also the cosmos of space, each of which has a bearing on or relationship with the other. This is one of the easier symbolic pictures in which we can see the underlying geometry or ‘cipher’, with this one denoting one of the great laws (referred to by Bacon as an “essential form”) underlying and governing the universe—a law which is outwardly expressed and explained by means of the allegorical symbolism of the picture.

Such geometric and numeric symbolism underlying special pictures was a secret method used by mystery schools, or a particular mystery school, of the Renaissance. Although usually to be found in titlepages and emblems, the artist Poussin is an outstanding example of this in terms of painting, particularly as shown in the second version of his ‘Shepherds of Arcadia’. As mentioned before, number and geometry is a means of accessing higher levels of consciousness and in particular the various levels of divine ideas or archetypes that embody the highest laws of the universe. It is also the science behind mandalas and iconography—a means by which, through focused meditation, we might access the divine mind, understand and be illumined by the divine ideas (i.e. angels, archangels, gods and goddesses), and ultimately become one with the Source of All.

The foregoing is just a sample of some Baconian-Rosicrucian ciphers that (a) provide the meaningful signatures of Francis Bacon and the Rosicrucian fraternity, of which Francis Bacon was the President during the Shakespeare period, (b) enshrine a library of wisdom knowledge, (c) provide a treasure trail for us to follow, and (d) train us in the Art of

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Discovery. Other valid Baconian-Rosicrucian ciphers have also been discovered and are in the process of being researched, such as those which are based on the Cardano Grille (a cipher method invented by Geronimo Cardano, 1501-1576, and adapted by Francis Bacon), Caesar ciphers, a logarithmic cipher, geometric ciphers, word ciphers, and others.14

As a conclusion to this essay, however, I would like to bring your attention to the third and fourth printed pages of the Shakespeare First Folio. This is the Dedication, titled “To the Most Noble and Incomparable Pair of Brethren, William, Earl of Pembroke, etc., and Philip, Earl of Montgomery, etc.” Therein you should be able to see how the printer has used deliberate spacing techniques in order to get particular words and number of letters on each of the lines. Often this spacing technique for cipher purposes is fairly hidden and just appears as various sized spaces and arrangement of letters, but in this Dedication some typefaces have actually been cut specially with elongated tails to the letters (e.g. e and m) so that the deliberate spacing is revealed and yet at the same time concealed (i.e. looking as if it were just decorative). Like the cryptic portrait poem and titlepage, this Dedication in italic font is an alert to those with eyes that are capable of seeing such things, as well as being directions as to what ciphers are being used and how to use them.

First part of the main text on the first page of the Dedication Shakespeare First Folio, 1623

If you compare this Dedication with the Address “To the great Variety of Readers” in regular font that follows (on the fifth printed page of the Folio) and does not use cipher spacing, you will see the difference. At the same time you should notice that the Address emphasises numbering, and not just any numbering but “absolute” numbering. ‘Absolute’ means perfect, pure, complete, fundamental, all-powerful, self-contained and self-sufficient, hence absolute numbers are essentially the divine numbers or ciphers that signify God, the All, such as the Ten Sephiroth (‘Ciphers’) of the cabalistic Tree of Life.

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Letter, ‘To the great Variety of Readers,’ Shakespeare First Folio, 1623

It’s as if the creators of the Shakespeare Folio were saying: “Look, folks, in case you’re not quite sure whether this book contains cipher, then this is to prove that it certainly does.”

Copyright© Peter Dawkins, 2016 (rev. May 2020)

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Endnotes

1 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605), Pt. 2, VIII. (1). 2 Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1640), Bk. II, ch. xiii. 3 Erlend Loe and Petter Amundsen, The Seven Steps to Mercy – with Shakespeare's Key to the Oak Island Templum (Cappelen Damm, Oslo, 2015). 4 For some examples of the use of Bacon’s ‘Abecedarium Naturae’ cipher and the Cardano Grille, see Ewen MacDuff’s The Sixty-Seventh Inquisition (published by Eric-Faulkner-Little in 1973 and 1974 respectively). 5 In the twenty-four letter English alphabet, the letters I and J are synonymous with each other, as also are U and V. 6 See Ewen MacDuff, The 67th Inquisition: A New Shakespeare Discovery (private publication, 1973). 7 See Frank Woodward, Francis Bacon's Cipher Signatures (Grafton & Co, London, 1923). 8 William Rawley, Preface, Sylva Sylvarum (1627). 9 Sephiroth, meaning emanations, are the 10 attributes through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals Itself and continuously creates the physical, metaphysical and higher realms of existence. The tradition of enumerating 10 is stated in the Sefer Yetzirah: "Ten sephiroth of nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven." 10 See Francis Bacon’s Cipher Signatures by Frank Woodward (London: Grafton, 1923) for a pioneering detailed study. 11 The ship is alternatively equated with the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus’ flagship, famously portrayed by the Emperor Charles V in his emblem that depicts the Santa Maria sailing through the Pillars of Hercules, signifying the Straits of Gibraltar, together with the “Plus Ultra” (‘More Beyond’) motto implying the Americas. 12 Ben Jonson is referred to as the “Keeper of the Trophonian Den” in The Great Assizes holden in Parnassus by Apollo and his Assessours (1645), by George Withers. 13 i.e. right-hand and left-hand side of the picture, not of the viewer. Such pictures, like portraits and heraldic coats-of-arms, are equivalent to a person face-to-face with the viewer. 14 For further cryptographic treasure trails, see:-

• Barry R. Clarke, The Shakespeare Puzzle. • Alan W. Green, I, Shakespeare – Unanimous or Anonymous?: The Holy Trinity Solution (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011). • Peggy Parker, Francis Bacon and the Inspiration of the King James Bible • Petter Amundsen, Shakespeare: The Hidden Truth, and Oak Island & The Treasure Map in Shakespeare. See also:- • Gallup, Elizabeth Wells, The Bi-literal Cipher of Sir Francis Bacon, Parts I & II (Detroit, Howard Publ. Co., Detroit; London, Gay & Bird, 1901). • Gallup, Elizabeth Wells, The Bi-literal Cipher of Sir Francis Bacon, Part III; The Lost Manuscripts (Detroit, Howard Publ. Co.; London, Gay & Bird, 1910).

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• Gallup, Elizabeth Wells, The Bi-literal Cipher of Sir Francis Bacon: The Tragedy of Anne Boleyn (Detroit, Howard Publ.; London, Gay & Bird, 1901). • Gerstenberg, Joachim, Strange Signatures (London, Francis Bacon Soc., 1967). • Leary, Penn, The Cryptographic Shakespeare (Omaha: Westchester House, 1987). • Leary, Penn, The Second Cryptographic Shakespeare (Omaha: Westchester House, 1999). • Macduff, Ewen, The Dancing Horse Will Tell You (Shoreham, Eric Faulkner-Little, 1974). • Macduff, Ewen, The Sixty-Seventh Inquisition (Shoreham, Eric Faulkner-Little, 1972). • Owen, Orville W., Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story, Vol II & Vol. V, (Howard Publishing, 1901; London, Gay & Bird, 1894.) • Woodward, Frank, Francis Bacon's Cipher Signatures (London: Grafton & Co, 1923).

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